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'Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is defined as an ecologically-based pest management that promotes the health of crops and animals, and makes full use of natural and cultural control processes and methods, including host resistance and biological control. It uses chemical pesticides only where and when the above measures fail to keep pests below damaging levels. All interventions are need-based and are applied in ways that minimise undesirable side-effects'
These days there is more emphasis is on the issue of sustainability. IPM is a key element of sustainable agricultural development as described in Agenda 21 (Anon, 1992). The stakeholders in agriculture need to realise the importance of a holistic approach in pest management. In this respect the World Bank guidelines for an IPM strategy is of relevance (Anon, 1994).
The following steps are listed in the guideline:
1. identifying the agricultural sub-sector represented by the programme
2. determining the importance of the crop under consideration
3. determining the importance of the pest and the extent of pesticide use
4. assessing local readiness for IPM development
5. assembling and evaluating the IPM technical content
6. providing a training process
7. evaluating the initial IPM programme in the field
8. having farmers implement IPM
9. suggesting policy changes in support of IPM
10. establishing national IPM programmes
11. making IPM impact evaluation an integral requirement.
All these steps should be considered when implementing an IPM programme. The non-technical aspects are as important as the technical ones when establishing IPM programmes in a particular region. The above mentioned steps will be considered in turn with reference to developing an integrated pest management strategy for Plutella xylostella (DBM) in Mauritius.
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